But then, no. Maven wouldn't have been here, anyway, and I have always been destined to suffer without my blood blossom.
The Garnet Wizard is the one who insisted I wait an additional year before enrolling at Everbound University. The Legacy Council was furious about it, but he'd dared them to try entering his sanctuary—which is more of a glorified death trap—and retrieve me themselves.
When I asked why the delay, he gave me a vague answer insisting he had an extremely valuable source who instructed him to keep me at his side for another year. I didn't ask follow-up questions, but now I wonder if he somehow knew that Maven wouldn't be here for me until this year.
Maven.
It's already nearing midnight. I need to finish the concealment potion and return to my keeper as soon as possible. But before I've even finished healing my leg, there's a knock at the door of my private dorm.
Immediately, my nerves are on edge.
It's someone with a knife. They'll attack the moment you open the door.
Gritting my teeth against the voices that refuse to leave me alone, I answer the door and go perfectly still. Because instead of Maven or any other legacy, Somnus DeLune waits with a sneer.
"Follow me, young Crane. It's time for your interrogation."
Damn it. This is going to end badly. And now that I know about Maven's past, if they ask questions about her…
I can't lie.
"Awfully late for an interrogation," I note, trying to keep my voice light.
The incubus monster bares sharp teeth at me. "Please do continue stalling. I'm to execute any who resist on the spot, and it would be immensely pleasing to kill any of your quintet."
My heart hammers in my chest. I glance over my shoulder at the cacophony of spell ingredients on my coffee table. "I won't resist, but allow me to finish bandaging my wound."
His black, soulless gaze drops to my leg, and he snorts. "Attacked, were you? Excellent. A weak quintet is fitting for him."
He must mean his son.
I nod absentmindedly because nodding isn't an explicit lie. Then I move quickly to the coffee table, leaving the front door barely ajar so he can't see inside. I grab a bandage soaked in bergamot poultice and wrap my leg until I can fully heal it later.
I also grab a talisman and slip it into my pocket. I crafted before the Matched Ball after hearing that the Immortal Quintet was at Everbound. It will keep Natalya out of my head.
I hope.
Somnus DeLune escorts me through silent hallways, which are dimly lit by fae or mage lights occasionally. No one dares step foot outside curfew, not when the number of legacies at Everbound has been dropping at an alarming rate over the lastfew days. The Immortal Quintet's hired hands keep a close watch at night, ready to pounce.
As we enter the faculty hall, Somnus scoffs, "Let's hope you're found guilty."
"Of?"
"Anything. You've no idea how I longed to kill you and be rid of your bloodline after your parents fell prey to that son of a bitch's meddling. Amusing that you now share a cunt with the one who murdered your family, don't you think?"
Hot anger floods my veins, and I feel the prick of my fangs as my temper pushes me into my hunting state. As much as I loathe Crypt DeLune—which isimmensely—I hate his father more.
Until recently, I'd only seen Somnus up close one other time. When I was eleven, he came to my family's house in the countryside unannounced to commission my father to make a powerful potion for him. My father wouldn't tell me what the potion was for, only that it was for unsavory purposes. When the time came for the concoction to be delivered, my father sent one of our house's human staff members. They came back in pieces in a blood-soaked body bag, and I decided not to cross paths with Somnus DeLune ever again.
Yet here we are.
"I'm not the last of my bloodline," I mutter through the anger, correcting his earlier statement. "There are other Cranes."
"None that are blood fae." Somnus stops in front of Headmaster Hearst's old office. He motions at the door as if I should go in. "Let's get on with it. Your inability to tell a bald-faced lie should make this rather quick."
I brace myself and walk through the doors. The room is spotless compared to the last time I saw it, but I'm still careful not to look at the place where we found Maven lying in a poolof her own blood. Instead, I stare straight ahead at the three monsters in the room.
Natalya, Iker, and Engela.
